Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin, at 85 the oldest owner in the league, sounds as if he is willing to spend for the team to get better.

Long a proponent of not exceeding the luxury tax, the point where NBA teams are taxed dollar-for-dollar for exceeding the trigger, Pollin told the Washington Times that he will do what he has to do to make the lowly team better in the future.

I'm sure (team president) Ernie Grunfeld and his staff will make sure that we take advantage of any potential opportunity that presents itself during the offseason," Pollin said.

"With that said, I also believe NBA teams need to be financially responsible and the luxury tax is a well-designed penalty/reward system. The penalties are severe. While I will say that I don't want to go over the luxury tax threshold, I also will not rule it out."

While this is good news for fans of the team, don't look for Pollin to go crazy, a la the New York Knicks, and totally disregard the tax. That won't happen. Nonetheless, this should inspire some sense of hope for Wizards fans.

NUGGETS 116, WIZARDS 105: Denver's J.R. Smith and Chris Anderson proved to be too much for the Wizards last night.

Smith went for a season-high 40 points and Anderson, perhaps the most heavily tattooed player in the league, finished with 18 points, 11 boards and six blocks against the injury plagued Wizards.

Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 27 points, and Nick Young added 20 for the Wizards.